reptile
Use Reptile in a sentence
tɪl, -taɪl noun
1.
2.
(loosely) any of various animals that crawl or creep.
3.
a groveling, mean, or despicable person.
adjective
4.
of or resembling a reptile; creeping or crawling.
5.
groveling, mean, or despicable.
00:10
Reptile
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English reptil < Late Latin rēptile, noun use of neuter of rēptilis creeping, equivalent to Latin rēpt(us) (past participle of rēpere to creep) + -ilis -ile
1350–1400; Middle English reptil < Late Latin rēptile, noun use of neuter of rēptilis creeping, equivalent to Latin rēpt(us) (past participle of rēpere to creep) + -ilis -ile
Related forms
rep·tile·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To reptile
Collins
World English Dictionary
reptile (ˈrɛptaɪl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | any of the cold-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Reptilia, characterized by lungs, an outer covering of horny scales or plates, and young produced in amniotic eggs. The class today includes the tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, and crocodiles; in Mesozoic times it was the dominant group, containing the dinosaurs and related forms |
| 2. | a grovelling insignificant person: you miserable little reptile! |
| —adj | |
| 3. | creeping, crawling, or squirming |
| 4. | grovelling or insignificant; mean; contemptible |
| [C14: from Late Latin reptilis creeping, from Latin rēpere to crawl] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
reptile
1390, from O.Fr. reptile (1314), from L.L. reptile, neut. of reptilis (adj.) "creping, crawling," from rept-(um), pp. stem of repere "to crawl, creep," from PIE base *rep- "to creep, crawl" (cf. Lith. replioju "to creep"). Used of persons of low character from 1749.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| reptile (rěp'tīl') Pronunciation Key
Any of various cold-blooded vertebrates of the class Reptilia, having skin covered with scales or horny plates, breathing air with lungs, and usually having a three-chambered heart. Unlike amphibians, whose eggs are fertilized outside the female body, reptiles reproduce by eggs that are fertilized inside the female. Though once varied, widespread, and numerous, reptilian lineages, including the pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and dinosaurs, have mostly become extinct (though birds are living descendants of dinosaurs). The earliest reptiles were the cotylosaurs (or stem reptiles) of the late Mississippian or early Pennsylvanian Period, from which mammals evolved. Modern reptiles include crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Learn why it is the reptile of choice for exotic snake charmers.
One key feature is that it has bone structures in the skull that resemble that of mammals that no reptile has ever had.
Visit the park's interpretive center, which has a birding station and a reptile room.
Everything that came after wore the gaze of a reptile sunning itself on a ledge.
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